The 1836 attack on the Alamo in San Antonio, Texas, by Mexico has been popularized several times in movies. The very first film on the battle was November 1915's "Martyrs of the Alamo." Based on a Theodosia Harris novel of the same name, "Alamo" visually introduces the popular characters of Davy Crockett, Jim Bowie and Santa Anna to the screen.
The film has been criticized as being highly historically inaccurate and inflammatory to the Mexican people. The film's interpretation to the events leading up to the battle showed drunken, lecherous Mexican soldiers harrassing San Antonio's womenfolk, to the point the Texans were force to honor their chivalry by calling out them. Things get ugly fast, and before the viewer knows it, the war is on. "Alamo," unlike most of its successors, include the decisive Battle of San Jacinto.
"Alamo" is also noted as being the first movie appearance of stage actor Douglas Fairbanks--although there is some ambiguity on this point. A New York Times report at the time of the movie's release stated he played an extra as a Texan soldier in "Alamo," but experts who have analyzed the film say the only character that resembles Douglas is a white actor made up in blackface playing a servant at the fort.
"Martyrs of the Alamo" was one of the initial movies released by the newly-formed prodcution studio, Triangle Film Corporation. Triangle was established by Harry and Roy Aitkin in July 1915. Harry was former co-owner and president of Mutual Film Corporation, the studio that brought over D. W. Griffith from Biography Studios. When Griffith was running over budget in making "The Birth of a Nation," Mutual Film's board refused to extend the director money to complete the film. Aitkin put up his life savings as well as got other investor money to help Griffith bring the movie to the screen.
The split between Mutual and the Aitkins was final when "Birth of a Nation" reaped fortunes for those investors. The Aitkins, along with Griffith, Thomas Ince and Mack Sennett, began Triangle Films, which made the studio, on paper, the strongest studio at the time, having cinema's three most highly-skilled and successful directors producing and directing movies for the new production and distribution film company.
